Petee l



Patented Feb. 24.1874.

P. L. WEIMER'.

Blast-Furnace Charging Apparatus.. N0.147,808.

f jaar,

ofthe well-known gas lock bell and hopper and the further advantage of having the flap- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

PETER L. XVEIMER, OF LEBANON, PENNSYLVANIA.'

IMPROVEMENT !N BLAST-FURNACE-CHARGING APPARATUS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 147,808, dated February January', 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER L. WEIMER, of Lebanon, in the county of Lebanon and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bell and Hopper Charging Devices for Smelting-Furna'ces; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a plan view of my improvements applied to a smelting-furnace, and Fig. 2 a vertical transverse section of the same.

My invention consists in improving the wellknown air or gas lock bell and hopper chargin g device used in filling yor charging ironsmelting furnaces, in the following manner: First, in the combination with the crown or top charging device, which has charging-passages through it, of a revolving plate constructed with a series of separated wings, or a perforated registering-plate, which serves to cover the said passages, said wings or solid portions of the plate being united together in a central collar or eye, by which they are itted in position upon the top of the hopper. By this construction, great simplicity is secured, and the apertures of the hopper can all be closed or opened at once very quickly, and while all the weight is sustained by the furnace-top; and, further, the chargingpassages can be opened to their full capacity without any obstruct-ion from overhanging hinged wings or doors being experienced. Second, in the combination of hinged iiap portions with the revolving collar or eye of the co'veringplate, whereby the advantages of the revolving cover are secured,

covers to yield or rise whenever an undue pressure or an explosion occurs below the crown or cover, and the furnace is endangered thereby, is obtained. rlhird, constructing the crown or top with narrow circular ridges and radial ribs on itsouter surface, and also with an extended hollow hub, and fitting the said revolving cover upon centralizing bearingwa-shers of the said hub, by means of a hollow capping-collar, all in such manner that the cover is suspended and can be moved around with a small amount of force, and at the same time but little friction will be experienced.. Fourth, in the combination of a rack 24, 1874; .application filed and pinion and a speed controlling or regulating device with the loaded beam and the bell and hopper charging device of a smelting-fur nace. Fifth, in the combination of a hand wheel, with stop-notches on its face, a stoplever, a rack and pinion, a loaded bea-m, and a bell and hopper.

By the fourth and fifth features of my invention, the delivery of the stock into the furnace, and the opening and closing of the passage sealed by the bell automatically, and, as occasion may require, by hand, can be effected very perfectly, and with appliances which are very simple and cheap; and it will no longer be necessary to depend uponthe slow motions of a crank and winch, nor to resort to the more expeditious means, viz., piston in a cylinder worked by either compressed air, steam, or hydraulic power, and controlled by suitable valves, levers, 85e., all of which are expensive and troublesome to manage. Besides this, the objections to air under pressure, viz., the expense and labor attending its compression, and to steam, viz., the expense attending its production, and inconvenience arising from condensation and freezing, are avoided. Hydraulic power has but one objection, and that is it necessitates the employment of expensive hydraulic apparatus to operate it.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A is intended to represent the walls of an ordinary smelting-furnace; B, its annular capping-plate; C, the flaring charging-hopper;

l), the bell or conical sealing-valve of said hopper; d, the connecting and suspending rod of the bell; and I, the loaded walking-beam, to which said rod is hung. The bell C is covered with anarching crown or top, E, in which charging-passages c are formed. This crown has circular and radial ribs c1 and a shouldered hub, e2, formed upon it, as shown. F is a revolving cover, consisting of a central capping-collar, 7L, and doors f1, and a handle, f2, by which to turn it. The collar of this cover forms, with the shouldered hub, when the former is fitted around the latter, a chamber, g', and into this chamber supporting or sus-` pending washers g, which may be slightly springy, are arranged. These washers serve to center the cover with respect to the crown, and, when worn, can be readily replaced at The collar of the cover is ittedaround the hub and washers loose enough to be revolved with small power, and as there is but little contact between the covers and the top of the hopper but little friction will be experienced. There is a hinged iap or door, f1, to each passage into the hopper, and there is also a blank supporting-surface between each pair of the hopper-passages for the respective naps to rest upon when the hopper-passages are open. The hole in the hub c is made large enough to allow ample play to the suspension-rod dof the bell D, but is closed at the top by a movable collar, df, which is nicely fitted on the rod d, and easily yields to all the motions of the ysaid rod, while, by its own weight, it keeps the hole h continually closed, with its lower surface in contact with the collar and hub. The walkin g-beam I has its support upon the standard J, fastened to the capping-plate B, and the weight of the bell D and the rod d is overbalaneed at the other end of the lever I by the weight, i, and, by this loadcdend, this beam is connected to a vertical rack, L, by a connecting-rod, K. The rack L gears with a pinion,which is on a shaft, N, which has a flywheel, N, on its outer end. The said {1y-wheel is provided with notches n on one of its faces, and into these notches a stop-lever, O, is made to catch, when desired Ato stop the motion of the beam. This stop-lever is fastened to the standard I?, which supports shaft N of the pinion M and iy-wheel N. The rack, if desired, may be extended down in form of a pistonrod, L. The piston-rod L operates a piston, Q, and the said rod and piston are fitted to a cylinder, R, provided at the top and bottom with air-cocks r, to regulate the entrance and eXit of air, which maybe used to form a cushion to prevent violent shocks or concussions in the operation of the heavy bell during the operation of charging the furnace. Instead of this air-cushion, a friction-brake may be used on the fly-wheel.

Vhen the furnace is to be charged, the hopper C, which is closed above' and below, is opened by turning the cover-flaps fl aside by the aid of the handle f2. The charge is then thrown, through the exposed openings c, into the hopper C, and on the bell D. The openings e are then closed by turning the coverflaps f backward. The weight of the charge, with the bell, overcomes the loaded end ofthe beam, and descends with its load, if the stoplever O is released from its notch of the wheel N, to which it is engaged. The charge sliding off the bell as soon as the opening' between it and the hopper C permits has the effect of greatly moderating the acceleration of the descent of the bell, which, however, may be still further reduced by partly or wholly closing the upper cock r on the cylinder R, and thereby confining the air, and effecting, by its resistance to the ascending piston, a very gradual termination of the said descent -of the bell with its charge. The momentum of the descending bell being spent, the weight t' tends to bring the bell D up again, and in this it may be assisted by the operator with a start of the wheel N backward. It is desirable to have these movements performed quickly. When the bell is nearly closing the hopper, the acceleration of its motion is counteracted bythe compressed air in the lower part of the cylinder R, which, by means of the air-cock r, may be so regulated as to cause the bell to close the hopper almost inaudibly. By opening the hopper C from above, it is immediately lled with atmospheric air, which, at the opening below, comes in contact with the gases of the furnace, and often forms explosive combinations, which would instantly ignite and burst the furnace if the cover-naps f1 were not made to yield easily to the pressure, and thus serve as safety-valves.

When the openings c are again exposed for another charge, the gases in the hopper pass therefrom in a harmless state of finished combustion, without Haine or great heat, while the furnaces of the present construction on that occasion always emit a towering column of name and smoke, and very perceptibly indicate the great waste of useful gases and other matter, which delays and otherwise injures the smelting operation.

` It is sometimes desirable to open the bellvalve, and hold it open, and, on account of this, the rack and pinion, y-wheel with handle, and the rocking lever are provided.

/hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with the bell and hopper of a furnace which is inclosed by a perforated crown, of a revolving cover consisting of a series of wings or a perforated plate, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of hinged naps with the revolving capping-collar of the cover-plate of the bell-crown and hopper of a furnace, substantially as described.

3. The perforated crown of the hopper, constructed with ribs and a central hub, in combination with the revolving cover, having an annular capping-collar, and with the center'- ing and suspending washers, substantially as described.

4;. The combination of the rack and pinion, stop-lever, notched 1i y-wheel, loaded beam, and bell and hopper, substantially as described.

5. The air-piston, with regulating-cocks, combined with the rack and pinion, iy-wheel, loaded beam, and bell and hopper, substantially as described.

PETER L. WEIMEl-.

' lfitnesscs:

K. A. BIRKINBINE,

A. A. W'nrnnn. 

